Post by Bird on Jul 1, 2014 11:38:22 GMT -5

Is it unrealistic to say MMJ have rose to about as far a level they'll ever reach? I mean we accept where bands like Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, and QOTSA are billed, yet we always have this impulse to unjustifiably bump this 15 year old act up to headliner status. Do we really think their next album (which we all know will be great) will be enough to catapult them to the next level?

This is a stretch, brudder. I don't think Vampire Weekend are done climbing by any means, or any of the bands you mentioned actually. Queens is getting billed higher than ever nowadays, and Phoenix could headline festivals again with another great album, though that'd be tough. Anyhow, there is no way of knowing where a band will reach. Maybe I'm readin ya wrong, but MMJ will be a headliner before it's all said and done, even if it's not this year, barring a massively poopy album.

Post by Launchpad McQuack on Jul 1, 2014 11:45:45 GMT -5

If they had kept up the tradition of a Sunday jam headliner I couldve seen them headlining... I think theyll be there next year but I think they'll be billed 5th and probably play the same slot they had in 2011 leading into a headliner on What.

Post by chicken4 on Jul 1, 2014 11:50:52 GMT -5

Is it unrealistic to say MMJ have rose to about as far a level they'll ever reach? I mean we accept where bands like Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, and QOTSA are billed, yet we always have this impulse to unjustifiably bump this 15 year old act up to headliner status. Do we really think their next album (which we all know will be great) will be enough to catapult them to the next level?

This is a stretch, brudder. I don't think Vampire Weekend are done climbing by any means, or any of the bands you mentioned actually. Queens is getting billed higher than ever nowadays, and Phoenix could headline festivals again with another great album, though that'd be tough. Anyhow, there is no way of knowing where a band will reach. Maybe I'm readin ya wrong, but MMJ will be a headliner before it's all said and done, even if it's not this year, barring a massively poopy album.

Just wanted to say love that video in your sig. My brother and i say that all the time around each other. WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT.

Post by Launchpad McQuack on Jul 1, 2014 12:14:21 GMT -5

Unless of course their new album happens to explode in popularity like mentioned before.

I'm hopeful but don't see how it happens unless they have some video that goes viral or a single that wins over the masses.

It could happen! I was pretty shocked when I went shopping at the mall one day and heard Holding On To Black Metal playing at the friggin Gap... A crossover hit isn't impossible, they are definitely on the radar of the mainstream.

Post by mkone on Jul 1, 2014 13:17:08 GMT -5

I mostly agree Jim James & co. will not headline next year. However, wasn't this the argument against Jack White? I would have argued MMJ is bigger than Jack White until that mind fuck of a performance happened.

Post by Katy Mae on Jul 1, 2014 14:09:00 GMT -5

Inforoo is a terrible way to measure a bands popularity. We do not represent the general public or the general Bonnaroo attendee. Saying that, I see them in the 4-6th spot, at highest.

Not counting WSP, could we have a headliner that has never had a radio hit? Mind you I'm not saying radio play = good music, merely pointing out the fact that (at least here in New England) I've never once heard them on the radio and no one I know has any clue who they are.

Post by snowman on Jul 1, 2014 14:16:10 GMT -5

Inforoo is a terrible way to measure a bands popularity. We do not represent the general public or the general Bonnaroo attendee. Saying that, I see them in the 4-6th spot, at highest.

Not counting WSP, could we have a headliner that has never had a radio hit? Mind you I'm not saying radio play = good music, merely pointing out the fact that (at least here in New England) I've never once heard them on the radio and no one I know has any clue who they are.

depends on how you define "hit." phish, the dead, arcade fire aren't really on the radio. radiohead hasn't had anything on the radio since Creep, except maaaaybe paranoid android once or twice.

Post by Katy Mae on Jul 1, 2014 14:22:09 GMT -5

Inforoo is a terrible way to measure a bands popularity. We do not represent the general public or the general Bonnaroo attendee. Saying that, I see them in the 4-6th spot, at highest.

Not counting WSP, could we have a headliner that has never had a radio hit? Mind you I'm not saying radio play = good music, merely pointing out the fact that (at least here in New England) I've never once heard them on the radio and no one I know has any clue who they are.

depends on how you define "hit." phish, the dead, arcade fire aren't really on the radio. radiohead hasn't had anything on the radio since Creep, except maaaaybe paranoid android once or twice.

Again I can only speak for around here, but when AF headlined, "Ready to Start" was in heavy rotation on our alternative stations. Phish I put in the category with WSP, The Grateful Dead get all sorts of play on classic rock stations, and like you said, Radiohead had both "Creep" and "Karma Police".

MMJ has never once had a single song played around here, that I've ever heard.

Post by Dale Cooper on Jul 1, 2014 14:51:28 GMT -5

'Roo is booking big names and mainstream acts, it's not doing the "three days of jam bands" thing.

Umphrey's McGee put on a great set this year, for what was basically an empty field. Vampire Weekend played a mediocre set for a crowd that went all the way to the arch.

It's a bit sad though, What is a great venue for jam bands, and they're just not what's going to draw the numbers.

That's kind of cherrypicking though.

Vampire Weekend was fifth on the line-up. Umphreys was much lower.

Also Damon Albarn (14th) and Bjork (4th last year) both played wonderful sets to practically empty fields on the What Stage. It's all about the musical competition, the weather and 100 other things that I can't think of right now. But the What Stage is a great venue for all types of music. Jam has certainly been played there as much or more than any other style barring the giant category of "rock" but I'm very much in favor of Bonnaroo continuing to evolve.

Post by celestiaequestria on Jul 1, 2014 15:00:42 GMT -5

Call 'em whatever you want, I don't think there's a vast difference in the audience going out for Umphrey's Mcgee and My Morning Jacket.

I could care less about "genre", I mean, what is Andrew Bird? Gospel without god? Doesn't really matter. We're not even discussing talent or "good music". Nick Cave is far more interesting than Skrillex, I don't think Skrillex is going to have a 30+ year career or make me believe in the devil, but I'm also not going to pretend that Nick Cave had a bunch of people or that all the "youths" I saw weren't drooling over the notion of having lasers light show and loud noises blasted at their face.

Vampire weekend put on one of the worst shows I heard at 'Roo, and they were packed to the gills.

Post by Dale Cooper on Jul 1, 2014 15:07:11 GMT -5

Call 'em whatever you want, I don't think there's a vast difference in the audience going out for Umphrey's Mcgee and My Morning Jacket.

I could care less about "genre", I mean, what is Andrew Bird? Gospel without god? Doesn't really matter. We're not even discussing talent or "good music". Nick Cave is far more interesting than Skrillex, I don't think Skrillex is going to have a 30+ year career or make me believe in the devil, but I'm also not going to pretend that Nick Cave had a bunch of people or that all the "youths" I saw weren't drooling over the notion of having lasers light show and loud noises blasted at their face.

Vampire weekend put on one of the worst shows I heard at 'Roo, and they were packed to the gills.

Other than you not enjoying the Vampire Weekend show, I don't really get your point.

If you're saying that My Morning Jacket won't pull an audience due to the size of Umphrey's McGee's crowd, that's ridiculous. My Morning Jacket headlined Lollapalooza (albeit at 5th or 6th on the line-up), Umphreys headlined a late-night Bonnaroo tent a few times.

Edit: Also, you're vastly overrating the overlap between the two bands. I have every MMJ album, and could barely tell you one song by Umphreys. Several of my friends would say the same. The two bands just aren't on the same level.

Post by Voltron on Jul 1, 2014 15:55:12 GMT -5

I was at a pizza place near Cincinnati a few months ago on a date. The girl thought there was something wrong with me when I went absolutely crazy because I heard a song from a band she had never heard of come on over the speakers. That song was "It Beats 4 U" by My Morning Jacket and that pizza place is now my favorite restaurant. I was so caught off guard they were playing that but it made me so happy.

But I agree MMJ would be billed 4-6. And I predict their show would be incredible wherever they are billed. I could care less as long as they're on the farm next year.